


To Be Champion

by Scrawlers



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2016-09-26
Packaged: 2018-08-17 11:56:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8142902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scrawlers/pseuds/Scrawlers
Summary: After the Flare crisis, Steven pays Alan a visit in the hospital.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written long before the Flare crisis concluded, and as a result has been partially jossed by canon (in that Alan didn't actually sustain injuries during the Flare crisis as I thought he might/said he did in this fic). With that said, the conversation as it happens in this fic still could happen in a post-canon scenario, so although this is a mild canon divergence, I still think it's worth sharing here nonetheless. (Additionally, I had thought that Hari-san might get to battle in the final crisis, hence his needing a bit of time to recuperate in the Pokémon Center in this fic, as not even the most capable pokémon in Kalos should battle immediately after waking from a coma. That was jossed as well, but it's a minor detail that can be rolled with, I think.)

Steven gave the open door to Alan’s hospital room two taps with the back of his knuckles, and while both Alan and Manon looked up at the sound, it was Manon whose face split into a wide grin as she bounded off Alan’s bed and dashed around to greet him.

“Ah! Mr Stone!”

“Manon! Good to see you,” Steven said, and he smiled back as he gave her a high five, Manon throwing her entire weight behind the strike (which, he would admit, actually stung a little when their palms connected). “And Hari-san too, I see. Good to see you up and about.” He bent down and offered his fist to Manon’s chespin, who proudly bumped his paw against it. “How are you all doing?”

“We’re doing great! Nurse Joy gave Hari-san the all-clear this morning!” Manon said, and she gestured down to her chespin, who puffed out his chest proudly. As he struck the pose, Manon leaned closer to Steven and whispered conspiratorially, “She probably could have released him yesterday, but Hari-san milked it for the free juice boxes and macrons, so she ended up agreeing to keep him for an extra day.”

Steven grinned. “My skarmory is much the same way. Give him a little bit of pampering and he’ll carry it as far as he can, and bite you if he thinks it’ll help him get even farther.”

Manon laughed, and stepped back as she swung her arms by her sides. “Well, Hari-san’s back now, and that’s all that matters, right, Hari-san?” Her chespin chirruped in agreement, and when Manon opened her arms, he jumped into them.

“That is definitely what is most important,” Steven said, and both Manon and her chespin turned their beaming smiles to him. “But in honesty, I actually came here because I have something important to discuss with Alan. Do you think you could give us privacy for a moment, Manon?”

Manon’s smile fell, and when Steven glanced over at Alan’s hospital bed, he saw that Alan himself was watching him warily. “With Alan?” Manon asked, and her chespin made a sound of discontent. She hushed him before she asked, “What’s it about? Is it about Mr Lysandre? Because—!”

Steven held up one hand, and when Manon fell silent, said gently, “It’s somewhat related to that, but I promise it isn’t what you think it is. I’m on your side, remember. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Manon hesitated for only a second before she smiled again, and nodded. “Yeah, for sure.” She turned back to Alan and said, “I’m going to go visit with Ash and the others for a while, but I’ll be back later, okay?”

“Sure,” Alan said. “Sounds good.”

“You might want to hurry,” Steven told Manon, as he stepped aside to let her pass through the door. “The last I heard they were finally releasing him. The nurses were preparing his discharge papers when I passed by their station earlier.”

“Lucky him,” Alan said, as Manon gasped, “Really?! Thanks for letting me know! Come on, Hari-san, let’s go!”

Manon darted past Steven, her chespin clinging to her for dear life, skidding around a nurse (and receiving a reprimand that she hastily and loudly apologized for in the process) before she dashed down the hall. Steven shook his head, unable to keep from smiling a little bit at her exuberance, and closed the door behind her.

Alone with Alan now, the silence between them was palpable. Steven did suppose that the onus was on him to speak, given that he was the one who had decided to visit and the one who knew what the topic of conversation was going to be, but he still couldn’t help but feel a little . . . discontented by the fact that Alan had yet to say so much as a “hello” to him. When he looked over he found that Alan was still watching him, his stare carrying the same curious mixture of guarded and striking in equal doses that it always did. Upon seeing that this was as far as he was going to get without saying anything himself—that, no matter how long he waited and they watched each other, Alan wasn’t going to take the initiative to speak up—Steven crossed the room and took a seat in the chair by Alan’s bedside.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

Alan shrugged (with his right shoulder, given that his left was in a brace), and finally looked away from Steven to look at the opposite wall instead. “I’m fine. It’s nothing too bad.”

“Professor Sycamore told me you have four broken ribs and a shattered kneecap.”

Alan’s frown was noticeable even turned away as he was, his lips pressed into a thin line, and after a moment he muttered, “It sounds worse than it is.”

Steven rolled his eyes. “Be that as it may, I’m glad you’re doing better. You know, there aren’t many people I can say I know that end up getting knocked unconscious and, in this case, actually hospitalized every time I see them. I really hope we can avoid making a habit out of this.”

It was a joke, meant to provoke at least a smile if not laughter, but while Alan did turn back a little (this time to stare at the bed sheet instead), his expression remained neutral as he said, “Yeah. I’ll try.”

“Trying is a good start,” Steven said.

Silence fell between them again, broken only by the sound of the clock on the wall, and after enduring a few seconds of it, Steven said, “Well, since you _are_ doing better, I suppose I had better cut to the chase. What I actually came here to talk to you about is your Champion challenge.”

Alan blinked, and finally looked back at Steven, his expression one of open surprise. “My what?”

“Your Champion challenge,” Steven said. “Although your battle with Diantha will only come about if you manage to defeat the Elite Four before her.” Alan continued to stare at him, and Steven began to feel a little unnerved by his apparent confusion. “You _do_ remember winning the League, don’t you? Professor Sycamore said you received the all-clear as far as potential amnesia from a possible head injury was concerned.”

“No, I remember that. I just . . . didn’t think of it like that,” Alan said. He looked back down at his lap, frowning again, chewing the inside of his lip.

“Then how did you think of it?” Steven asked, bemused. “Everyone who wins the annual regional League earns the qualification to challenge the Elite Four and Champion. It’s the reason most trainers enter.”

“It isn’t why I entered.”

“Then why did you?”

“. . . I wanted to battle Ash,” Alan said after a moment. “And . . . I wanted a break. That’s all. I didn’t really think about what would happen if I won. I had other things I had to do after.”

“Ah, I see.” And Steven did, truly. Lysandre hadn’t chosen to strike until after the League had concluded, which meant that during the League Alan would have no doubt been focused on restoring Manon’s chespin's health and continuing to investigate mega evolution energy on Lysandre’s behalf. It was no wonder to Steven that Alan hadn’t thought about what might come after; he had never really had the chance to. “Well, you don’t have to do any of those things now, which means that—once you’ve finished recuperating—you’re free to do whatever you like, the Champion challenge included if you want to.”

“Yeah.”

“And with that being the case, I thought I would come by to talk to you about it—to explain what it is, how it works, and what the job you would win entails, should you win it. Considering all that has happened, I thought you might appreciate being given full disclosure before agreeing to something for once.”

The second the words left Steven’s mouth, he regretted them. Alan winced and swallowed hard, turning away to look down at the floor on the other side of the bed instead, and Steven felt a cold dose of shame slip down his spine.

“I apologize,” he said. “I shouldn’t have—”

“No,” Alan interrupted. “It’s fine. You’re not wrong.” Silence fell between them again, more tense than it had been before Steven entered the room, but this time, Alan was the one to break it. “So, how does it work?”

Steven cleared his throat. “Right. As I mentioned previously, you will first need to challenge the Elite Four. From what I’ve heard there is no specific order here in Kalos; you can challenge them in whichever order you like, but once you begin the challenge, you can’t interrupt it for any reason. You have to either defeat them all, or lose and forfeit your right to the challenge.”

“Nothing I haven’t done before,” Alan said. “Not that all four of them participated that time, and it was ten instead of four, but . . .”

Steven smiled faintly. “Once you’ve beaten the Elite Four, you’ll battle the Champion—Diantha. You’re battling her for her title—and, I suppose more specifically, her job, because should you defeat her during the Champion challenge, you’ll become the new Champion of the Kalos Region, which means accepting all of the duties and responsibility that come with the position.”

“I take it it’s more than just a fancy title,” Alan said.

Steven laughed lightly. “It definitely is. I’ll keep this as succinct as I can.

“As you may be aware, the Champion is the highest position of authority in any region operating under a League structure. While most people think of this in terms of battle prowess—and indeed, the Champion is usually considered to be the strongest trainer within the region—the Champion’s power, influence, and responsibility extends beyond that. While most regions have a parliament or council of non-trainers in place in order to help create, pass, and uphold laws and maintain economic stability in the region—particularly important when you consider the members of the populace who choose not to train pokémon in any way themselves but still need a voice in their government to represent them—the Champion still works with the parliament or council when it comes to the creation, discussion, or upholding of those laws. The degree of interaction varies from region to region, and I’m not an expert on how Kalosean politics handle that, but I do know that I have a definite say and involvement in the laws that are created, passed, and maintained by the council in Hoenn.

“That being said, the legislative branch of government is not the only branch of government in which the Champion holds responsibility and influence. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that the Champion holds responsibility and influence in all three branches. Your—that is to say, the Champion’s—primary branch would be executive; but as mentioned, you do have a say and a responsibility to help maintain order and quality of living for those within the region via the legislative side of things, and you are also required to step in judicially if a problem ever arises within the Elite Four or Gym Leaders. The Elite Four are next in line below you in terms of influence and power, and in that sense it would be fair to say that you are not alone when it comes to working with the parliament or council—they do as well, to a degree. But in that sense, you are—or the Champion is—rather like their boss; should they break the law or need to undergo review for whatever reason, you would be the one spearheading that investigation. Likewise, while the Gym Leaders stand as the highest governmental authority within their city or region—the highest stations in terms of local government, in other words—should a Gym Leader break the law or need to undergo review, you would be in charge of that investigation and any criminal proceedings for that as well.”

“Such as the present situation with Malva,” Alan said quietly.

Steven nodded. “Yes. Diantha is investigating that as we speak.

“Politics aside, it is also the Champion’s duty—as it is the duty of the Gym Leaders and Elite Four—to maintain peace and security for the region. As I mentioned, the Champion is of the highest order on the executive side of things; should the region face a crisis of any kind, it is expected that the Champion be there to help defend the people and settle the crisis, however that has to happen. The Champion has to be able to exercise the judgment, skill, and capability to make this happen. The safety, security, and well-being of the people and pokémon within a Champion’s region must come first, before anything else.” Steven paused, and smiled wryly. “Which isn’t to say that the Champion can’t have hobbies or a secondary job, of course. Diantha herself is a movie star in addition to being the current Kalosean Champion. But it is to say that Diantha had to put her other career on hold the moment League responsibilities came up, or the moment Kalos fell into its crisis. Likewise, I put what I had been doing previously on hold when Lysandre approached us in Hoenn and Mega Rayquaza, Primal Kyogre, and Primal Groudon were awoken as a result of unearthing the megalith. Hoenn was in danger, and it was my responsibility to step up and protect it.”

“And here I thought you just liked giant rocks,” Alan said.

“Well,” Steven said, and he smiled flippantly, “that too, but my primary motivation was still the Champion thing.”

For the first time since Steven had entered the room, Alan smiled. It was small—more of a little quirk of his lips than anything—but it was still a smile, and Steven felt his own grow in response.

“In addition to the safety and defense of the region, the Champion is also the first one to handle matters of international politics, generally. The Champions of the various regions tend to meet and work together when it comes to matters such as trade and especially matters concerning international security. Meaning, of course, that if you did defeat Diantha and take the position of Kalos’ Champion, you and I would be working together on matters concerning both Kalos and Hoenn. In addition to that, you would also work with governmental leaders of regions that don’t operate under a League structure, such as Oblivia and Alola, but your involvement there would be something Diantha would be better at explaining given her greater experience with Kalosean international politics.”

“I see,” Alan said. His smile had faded, replaced once again by an uncertain frown. “It sounds like a lot of responsibility.”

“It is, but you wouldn’t be thrown into the thick of it right away. Again, this would be something Diantha would be better at explaining the finer details of, but at least in Hoenn there is always a one-year transitional period in which the previous Champion helps train and prepare their replacement. You would shadow Diantha on her Champion duties and she would help you learn the ropes so that you could take over from her in the following year.” Steven paused, then chuckled. “Provided you weren’t immediately dethroned by the following League victor, of course.”

“Mm.”

Alan returned to staring at his bed sheet, toying the edge between his fingers, and after a few seconds of silence Steven asked, “Pokén for your thoughts?”

Alan sighed. “I don’t . . . I appreciate the information you’ve given me. I am grateful to know exactly what I would be stepping into if I took and won the challenge. But with everything that happened . . . how can that possibility even remain open for me?” Alan looked back at Steven, his eyebrows knitted together over his frown. “How am I in any way qualified?”

Steven blinked, and then fixed Alan with a solid stare. “How are you not?”

“Is that a joke? I nearly destroyed Kalos and everyone in it.”

“I believe that was Lysandre.”

“I helped.”

“Unwittingly.”

“That doesn’t change anything.”

“Actually, it changes a lot.” Alan’s expression told Steven that he disagreed, and Steven sighed. “Look, do you want me to tell you what I think? Or rather, what I know?”

“Does it matter if I don’t?”

“Not particularly,” Steven said, and he leaned back in his chair, his arms folded across his chest as Alan stared up at the ceiling. “What I know is that, when I met you, you were working for Lysandre, yes. At the time, you believed that you were gathering mega evolution energy for vaguely defined peaceful purposes. Regardless of what those purposes actually were, you thought they were for peace. You thought you were helping Kalos, and possibly even the world. You put any personal ambitions on hold in order to do that.”

“Not entirely,” Alan muttered. “I was still able to battle alongside Lizar—”

“What I know is that, when Mega Rayquaza attacked us at the megalith site, you responded immediately. Not only did you respond immediately, but your first call to action was for everyone to take cover and get to safety. You and Lizardon then did your best to defend everyone there and fend off Mega Rayquaza’s anger. When you experienced understandable difficulty in doing so and Manon was almost injured, you shielded her using your own body.”

“Anyone would have—”

“What I know,” Steven went on, speaking over him, and Alan frowned in consternation, “is that when it was discovered that Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon threatened the safety of Hoenn—and, by extension, the world—you volunteered to go help stop them. Before Lysandre had a chance to direct you to the site, you _told_ him you were going to go there. It was the first time I ever heard you speak directly to him of your own volition, and certainly the first time I ever heard you tell him that you were _going_ to do something, rather than waiting for an order.”

“They were only attacking in the first place becau—”

“What I know is that when your charizard was attacked by Primal Groudon, I didn’t have a chance to so much as _try_ to stop you before you jumped out of the plane to go after him yourself. I know that you didn’t hesitate even for a second before you risked your life to go protect your pokémon.”

“Of course I didn’t,” Alan said indignantly. “Lizardon is my best—”

“I know,” Steven went on, not backing down under the heat of Alan’s glare at being interrupted yet again, “that when you felt that you didn’t have the strength to protect those close to you, you threw yourself into more training despite the fact that you had already sustained serious injuries yourself, once again putting the safety and well-being of others above your own. I know that when Manon’s chespin fell into a coma, you took it upon yourself to go find a cure. I know that, when you discovered Lysandre’s true intentions, you turned against him to try and protect Kalos. I know that you almost died doing so.”

“I didn’t ‘almost die,’” Alan said. “I—”

“You were unconscious for over a day and have been in the hospital for three,” Steven said flatly. “Especially considering the injuries you’re still recovering from, I would say that qualifies for almost dying. It at the least shows how you risked your life in order to do the right thing and defend your home.”

Alan huffed a sigh. “Even so—”

“Regardless of the mistakes you made, I know that your intentions have always been to protect those you care about and do right by Kalos,” Steven said. “I know that it isn’t only Kalos you care about, either, given how you stepped up to help me defend Hoenn. You aren’t perfect; you could stand to have better judgment when it comes to the intentions of others, and you have a tendency to be rash. But you’ll gain both of those things with age and experience. I’d be lying if I said that I had a perfectly level head at fifteen, particularly in the middle of a crisis. But what I’m saying to you, Alan, is not only do I think you’re qualified to take on the role and responsibilities of regional Champion, but I think—no, I _know_ that with a little training, you would make a damn fine one. You already have the right instincts.”

Alan stared at him, his eyes wide, seemingly at a loss for what to say. Steven smiled, and rose from his chair.

“Well, it’s something for you think over, at any rate. You have a year to take the challenge, and with the condition you’re in you aren’t in any shape to take it right now, anyway. Think about it, and if you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to ask. You can call me any time, if you need to.”

“Thank you,” Alan mumbled, still sounding a little dazed.

“Don’t mention it. It’s what friends are for, isn’t it?” Steven walked over to the door, but paused as he gripped the handle and looked back. “By the way, I don’t know if this will help you in your decision at all, but it’s worth it to consider . . . something Champions do tend to do a lot of is battling, and given our rank and status, the strongest trainers tend to seek us out even outside of official Champion challenges. So if battling strong trainers is something and Lizardon are still interested in, then becoming the Champion would likely help you with that.”

Alan blinked, as if this thought honestly hadn’t occurred to him, his expression suddenly thoughtful. Steven grinned.

“Think it over,” he said, and he raised one hand in farewell as he opened the door. “Take care, Alan. I’ll be in touch.”

“Yeah,” Alan said. “You too.”

Steven nodded, and shut the door behind him.


End file.
